It's Now or Never
by Xenogears
Summary: A tale of survival in a world gone completely mad. Their home taken over by the denizens of the undead, there's only one thing for them to do: escape or die trying. An original Resident Evil fanfiction. Rating set to change.
1. Chapter one: And So it Begins

_**It's Now or Never**_

**An original Resident Evil fiction written by: Xenogears**

The following is an original story using elements from the game series, Resident Evil, created by Capcom. Any Resident Evil likeliness, similarities, or direct takes are used without permission. Anything relating to anyone, whether alive or dead, is purely coincidental, and unintended.

_For Catherine, Dina and Go Eun, for teaching me what the halter shirt is, and for being three of the nicest girls I know._

_**Prologue/Chapter One:**_

_**And So It Begins**_

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_**September 2, 2002**_

_**Skokie, Illinois **_

_**Unknown Underground Laboratory**_

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The scientist walked purposefully through the door of the fluorescent-lit laboratory and sat down at a computer terminal near the end of the room. Logging in under another co-worker's name, he accessed the laboratory's mainframe, and from there, he accessed the command files. After a few keystrokes and a mouse click or two, a list of all the chemicals the laboratory contained in its vast confined came up on his monitor. He selected the one that would start it all: the T-Virus. Yes, finally, his grand creation could finally get to see its first round of true testing. What better way to test its effectiveness than on a large population? True, the effects could be devastating, but he did not care much for the people within the township…beyond being test subjects, that is.

As the pressure in the chemical holding tanks increased, he cracked a large-toothed smile, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose. Sure, the alarm would activate any minute, but while the lab was in confusion, he would escape and wait for the time to act. His smile widened as he imagined the virus leaking into the atmosphere and, within a month or two, infecting the whole community. There would be no way that the corporation could cover up _this_ one. When the time was right, after he had seen the effects of _his _creation (not those fatcats above him who wanted to call it their own) and then modify it, perfect it and then finally…well, his options were almost limitless.

Rising from the chair, he grabbed his suitcase and turned for the door, keeping his free hand on the revolver in his pants pocket. Since he had administered to himself a sample of the vaccine, he could take his time escaping, then lock everyone else down in the laboratory. Well, there would be a few that were on the surface by now, but chances were that they would eventually get infected, too.

It was then that the lights suddenly went a dark, flashing red and klaxons began their blaring wail throughout the laboratory complex.

"And so it begins," he murmured to himself.

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_**October 9, 2002**_

_**Skokie, Illinois**_

_**McHenry Residence**_

_**5:34 AM**_

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The young man slept peacefully without snoring, trying desperately to catch some semblance of six hours of sleep before his alarm went off. All was going well. That is, until 5:45, when his alarm wrenched him from the warm embrace of sleep and pulled him back into the world of the living. He groaned and slammed down his fist on his snooze bar.

'_God, how I hate high school...'_

Turning off the alarm, he fell out of bed. '_Clothes, that would help.'_ He grabbed a random shirt from the drawer. Any color would do, since he always wore blue jeans. Bathroom next. Turn on the light. Start a hot bath. While the water ran, he looked at himself in the mirror with his brown, droopy eyes that were still adjusting to the light, forcing him so squint.

His messy cap of light brown hair sent a bang or two down into his eyes, forcing him to brush it away. Standing at five foot eleven, at the age of seventeen going on eighteen, he was a bit muscular for his age but by no means a Hulk Hogan. This was Mathew McHenry, or just Matt as he preferred to be called. He was a senior at Niles West High School, with above-average grades and dreams of becoming the best trauma surgeon in the United States. Stifling a yawn, he stretched out his body and pulled off his clothes. Climbing into the bathtub, he lay back with his eyes closed for a few minutes, making sure to catch just as much sleep as he very well could.

He was out of the tub by just before 6:00. Get dressed, breakfast, hair, teeth, teeth again, pack up books—the daily routine—and made it out the door by 6:40. He was one of the first people at his bus stop, giving him time to work on some of his martial arts, working with the basic hand-to-hand forms with some basic moves thrown in. As his master had told him, he should practice whenever he could, even if it was for only a few minutes or so. He only had five or so minutes before other students would start to arrive, but he used his time wisely. By 6:50, people started to arrive at the bus stop. Walking toward him were two of his three closest friends, Peter Safian and Craig Miller.

Matt greeted them with a smile, "What's up, guys?"

Craig, who was the least awake of the three, answered with, "The same freaking thing, McHenry. I'm tired as hell, and I just managed to get myself up."

"No wonder it was so hard for you," Peter smirked, indicating Craig's body mass. "I mean, there _is_ a reason we call you 'tons of fun.'"

Craig threw a blind punch at Peter, who dodged it with a laugh. "Oh, shut up," Craig retorted.

"Nothing wrong with telling the truth," Peter said, still smiling.

Peter was Matt's age and height, with light brown hair and startling aqua blue eyes. Among Matt's friends, Peter was the smartest. Being in the top five percent of their class, he was never off the High Honor Roll. What was surprising was the career he had in mind. Just a few months before, he had been sworn into the Marine Corps, which he had wanted to do his whole life. Because of his high intelligence and thin frame, his friends thought it something completely out of the ordinary for him. Even two days a week of vigorous Physical Training—Peter had taken to calling it PT—hadn't done much to increase his body mass.

Craig was the heaviest of them, but not obese by any means. He was 5' 8", with short black hair and dark brown eyes. Of Matt's friends, he was also the least academically inclined, with a C average and a fairly poor homework record. Working for him, though, was his knack for art as well as musical instruments of any kind.

Matt was still smiling when he growled, "Cut it out. You know what'll happen if you guys get reported play-fighting at a bus stop: two Saturdays."

"Aghhh," Craig answered, shrugging. "They won't catch me."

This time, Matt couldn't help but throw a line at Craig. "Craig, a Hippo suffering from constipation could catch you if it wanted to. Heck, it might even chase after you a little faster, regarding you as one of its own kind."

"Not you, too, Matt?"

Matt slyly linked his arms behind his head and leaned on one leg, cracking a wry smile. "Hey, it's your fault for leaving yourself wide open."

Just then the school bus arrived. The three loaded onto the bus, heading for the back. Just as the bus doors started to close, they could hear a distinctive shout from nearby:

"_Heee—y! Don't go yet!_"

Matt, Peter, and Craig rolled their eyes as one. A few seconds later, their fourth friend, Kevin MacDonald, jumped onto the bus. Towering over Matt and Peter by three inches, Kevin was the tallest as well as the thinnest of the four. He had spiked dirty-blond hair and, like Peter, wore small wire-frame glasses over deep blue eyes. He sported a pair of jeans and a thin black leather jacket, as usual.

Among the four, he was the laziest, waking up late, not doing all his homework, rushing to get any unfinished work done by the end of the marking periods…the list went on and on. For someone so lazy, however, he still hung onto the second or third place behind Peter in the top five percent of the class, who specialized in Advanced Physics and Trigonometry/Pre-calculus. He knew that if he would get most of his homework done, he would definitely surpass Peter in class rankings.

Matt, Craig, and Peter turned and laughed at their friend, who promptly responded with a middle finger. "Screw you, guys," he snarled with the best tough-guy humor he could dredge up this early in the day.

While Peter, Craig, and Kevin sat down near the middle of the bus, Matt went all the way to the far back. Sitting there, eyes closed and perhaps dozing, was his long-time friend and girlfriend of no more than four months, Ji Hae Park.

When standing, she was barely 5' 3", with raven hair that went down just past her collarbone and had one or two blond highlights—today it was tied in a bun—and wire-framed glasses over her chocolate-colored eyes. Matt had known her since the fourth grade, when she was still an ESL student. Though she now spoke English fluently and intelligently, she spoke it with only the slightest trace of an accent. She was also thin and a bit sickly for her age, due to being born with anemia. Because of that, her skin was always a bit pale, and she was hit by the flu and colds harder and more often than most. She also suffered from an ever-so-slight case of cerebral palsy in her right hand, causing it to twitch involuntarily from time to time. It was because of these disabilities that ever since Matt had known her he had felt an urge to protect her, something that her own parents did as well.

Using the only words he knew in Korean, he greeted her with, "_Ahn yung._"

Opening her eyes, she turned to him with a smile. "_Ahn yung_, Matt," she said, and, moving over to give him room, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Morning."

"Yeah, morning," he said, returning the kiss. "So what's up with you?"

Ji Hae shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just had to finish that really long assignment in Spanish."

"What? All those things in _Más Practica_ and the reading?"

She nodded. "Yeah. That's it."

She sighed and leaned her head on Matt's shoulder, which prompted Matt to wrap his hand around her waist. "I'm _so_ tired. All these AP classes are killing me."

Matt looped his arm around her waist, leaning his head into hers. "Yeah, well, you have to perform well to get noticed by the Ivy Leagues, right?"

Ji Hae shrugged. "Yeah. I guess..."

Matt chuckled. Turning to look her dead in the eye, he raised her chin with his free hand. "Don't sweat it, Ji Hae. You're one of the smartest girls that I know…and also one of the most pretty." She blushed furiously at his compliment, causing him to chuckle once more. "I'm telling you that you'll do fine. Don't overwork yourself; take a break now and then, but don't let up either."

She smiled and leaned back into him, saying nothing. As far as he was concerned, her eyes and her body had told him enough. And so began a normal day in the lives of Matt, Peter, Craig, Kevin, and Ji Hae.

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_**October 9, 2002**_

_**Skokie, Illinois**_

_**Niles West High School, PE Field House**_

_**11:35 AM**_

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Running around the indoor track, Peter tried to keep his breathing at a steady pace. Even though Marine Physical Training had shaped him up, he still felt that he had room left for improvement, and so he took mandatory Physical Education very seriously. As on any Wednesday, PE was about running around the indoor track of the field house to some jock music, stopping when it stopped and running or jogging when it played. As he neared his fifth lap, the music stopped again, giving him time to walk and rest a bit. Glancing off to the side he saw Matt's girlfriend, Ji Hae, sitting off to the side, looking down at her feet. While she wasn't technically part of the group's circle, she was still considered a friend and therefore, the entire group looked after her, not just Matt.

Peter left the track to greet her. "What's up, Ji Hae? Why you sittin' out?"

"Huh?" Ji Hae looked up from the floor at the sound of his voice. "Oh, it's just one of those days. I really wish I could run with you guys, but I just can't today."

"Come on. Try."

"I did."

Peter reached out his hand for her. "Come on up before I pull you up, civvy." He affected a gruff voice and barked, "Haul your be-hind into gear."

Ji Hae stared at his hand for a time before finally taking it with a frown. "Sir, yes, sir."

He affected a warm smile and gave a slight chuckle. "That's better. Just take it easy. Don't push yourself too hard."

The music started up again, the same old rather annoying music that he could hear any time he went to a Bulls game…that is, if he could have dragged himself to see the horrendous team even play. After another lap or two (Peter wasn't really paying attention to the number of laps he was running anymore), Craig and Kevin came jogging up behind them.

"Hey, Safian," Craig panted. "Have you heard?"

"Heard what?" Peter responded.

"You know, those weird murder cases? About the people getting eaten?"

The infamous murder cases of Skokie. So far, there had been twelve victims in the cases, all of them either cut into pieces, or eaten, presumably alive. The police had no idea who the perpetrator was. The press however found a leak in their information and reported that the police were speculating that the person, or people, was trying to be a real-life Hannibal Lecter. While it frightened the entire community enough to keep many people from walking the streets, Peter was confident that the case could be solved, and would be soon.

He scoffed. "Yeah? So?"

"So?" Kevin said, his voice rising over the music. "I just read it in the school paper—there's been some more. The police are thinking of calling in the FBI."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "And this has what to do with me?"

"Well," Craig said. "Since most of the victims were from the area around Searle Labs, they're going to start questioning us, right? Plus, your father works in the labs. They're going to be putting him under the lamp too, you know."

"Please," Peter scoffed once more. "Like that's going to happen? If it did, what would my dad know? If he knew anything, he'd go straight to the police."

The music stopped again, and everyone slowed to a walk.

Craig threw up his arms defensively. "I'm just wondering, that's all."

"Peter," Ji Hae was stumbling over to them, breathing hard, her face flushed. "I'm going to sit it out. I'm feeling real bad."

Peter nodded with a friendly smile. "Well, at least you tried. Can't ask for more."

Ji Hae went over to the side and sat down against the white brick wall, leaving the three boys alone. Looking back, Peter saw that Matt stopped on the track, went over to Ji Hae, and sat down next to her.

"Those two," Peter said to Craig and Kevin, motioning to Matt and Ji Hae. "They've been around each other more lately."

Kevin snickered. "Yeah. It's completely unlike him to give much attention to those of the fairer sex."

Craig, being the hopeless romantic, smiled. "I dunno. I see those two going places together."

Peter and Kevin snapped their heads to Craig staring at him in disbelief. How could something so...smart...came out of his mouth?

"I guess you're right," Peter said, shrugging his shoulders. "They do look good together."

Without warning the music started up again, sending most of the students in the field house into a run.

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_**October 9, 2002**_

_**Skokie, Illinois**_

_**Outside Searle Pharmaceuticals**_

_**10:33 PM**_

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It just wasn't Officer Brandon Provus' day. He was expecting to get some time off today, then he found out that he got reassigned to the graveyard shift. Of all the goddamn things, the freaking _graveyard shift!_

'_It's times like this that make me wonder why I became an officer in the first place,'_ he thought. _'Maybe I should join in Chicago, or the LAPD? Hell, at least their graveyard shifts are a lot more exciting than this crap.'_

He sighed heavily, something that he had been doing often lately. They hadn't even bothered to give him a partner yet! The bureaucracy of this police force was screwed up beyond belief. And so he sat in his seat of his squad car, waiting, just waiting for something to happen—a couple of kids violating curfew, a speeding vehicle, anything. The town was so quiet. It wasn't normal. After all, with a population of close to 70,000 it was not a low-populated suburb even for the Chicago metropolitan area. They even touched borders with the city at a small point in the southern part of the township borders.

'_Why is it so quiet? So...still?'_ he wondered, surpressing a shiver. _'It gives me the creeps.'_

He watched the nothing unfolding in front of him for awhile, until he began drifting toward the lull of sleep. He slept a short but dreamless sleep. Snapping awake, he looked at his watch: he had been out for well over an hour. Cursing at himself, he sat up straight and stifled a yawn. No way to do a shift, even if nothing was going on. He rubbed his eyes dreary and continued to watch.

Scanning his droopy eyes back and forth across the dark dreariness of the night Provus' eyes caught a glimpse or something perhaps thirty or forty yards ahead of him: the outline of a person walking unevenly, swaying and lurching in the street. Though it was hard to discern in the darkness of the near-morning hours, he thought the person looked rather drunk. Provus sighed. It wasn't much, but it was something.

"This is Provus," Provus called into his radio. "I'm going off to investigate a...what was it? Oh hell, I'm going off to look for drunk. I don't need any backup. Over."

The radio was silent. Indignantly, Provus jammed the "send" button on his walkie-talkie once more.

"Hey! Anyone there? Over."

Again, no response. Butterflies started to swarm in his stomach.

"Maurice? If you're bullshitting me again..."

A throaty moan came from the other side of the communication line. Provus sighed again.

"Dammit, Maurice. I'm gonna kill you for pulling this shit with me when I get back."

He turned down his radio. Bringing out his flashlight, he went in pursuit of the drunken person. He walked down the street, toward the post office near Madison Elementary School, taking casual steps. He watched the outline of the person going into a nearby residential alley—and, frowning—he followed.

His heart rate speeded up just a notch. Licking his dry lips, he proceeded into the alley. The person he was after wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Hello?" He called out. "This is the Skokie Police. Is anyone there?" He waited another moment before calling out again, "Hello? Sir? Ma'am? Anyone?"

For the third time that night, he was getting no response. He took a few steps forward, and then he heard it: a moan, just like the one that he heard over the radio. But more throaty, more...wet. His heart lurched. Then, the sound like something wet being ripped, torn to shreds. What the hell was going on? He looked around, hoping that he could find the source of the sound, but whatever it was it wasn't within his field of vision. Attuning his ears, he listened, trying to trace the source of the noise.

He drew his Beretta M92F, and cautiously walked forward. Following his ears, he took the right turn in the T of the alley, and just as he rounded the corner his light shone on someone not far away sitting near a garage door with ripped, dirty, and bloodstained clothing hunched over...something.…

Shining his light on what he was hunched over, Officer Provus cried out in surprise and horror at the sight before him, almost dropping his flashlight in the process. The thing on the ground was a human corpse; its face torn open, its jaw hanging on by a thin line of muscle; chest cracked open like a shellfish, exposing all of the tissues, bones organs underneath. It was missing one eye, and the one that remained was bulged out of its socket, frozen open in an expression of pure terror.

Provus aimed his gun and shouted, "S-stop! Freeze! Turn around! Now!"

The person stopped...eating the person on the ground, and slowly came to his feet, turning around.

"When you turn around drop to the..."

His sentence was cut short when he saw the assailant. The smell of rotting flesh reeked from the creature before him. It had grayish, rotting skin, with several open wounds in various places on its chest, legs, and neck—nowhere near as bad as what had been done to its previous "meal". Its bloody mouth was full of twisted, discolored teeth. Turning fully to face him, it reached its arms for the officer, and stumbled forward, letting out a gurgling moan. Officer Provus backed away, keeping his aim steady.

"Freeze! Stop!" The creature made no sign of hearing him. It continued to stumble forward. "Stop, or I'll shoot, dammit!"

And shoot he did. The 9mm bullet that hit the creature squarely in the chest made it stumble back a bit, but otherwise, it kept its slow advance. Within a split second, Officer Provus realized what this thing was. He knew that the laws of nature and physics disallowed such a thing from happening, but he couldn't ignore what stared him in the face. The sudden shock that hit him like a sack of bricks was like nothing he had ever experienced.

'_Zombie!'_ his mind screamed.

Recalling the _Dead_ movies he was so fond of, he aimed for the head and fired once again. The bullet hit the zombie squarely in the forehead, blasting its brain matter out the back of its skull, splashing it against a garage door. The creature fell backward with the grace of a rag doll, and did not rise again. Provus stumbled back, taking a deep breath.

'_Something is _really_ fucked up around here...'_ he thought.

As his head spun, trying to make sense out of what he had just seen, he didn't notice the stumbling form behind him. He only felt something cold grab him, and then a sharp, intense pain in his shoulder. He screamed, and thrashed his arm out, hitting the thing in the assailant and knocking him to the ground. Grabbing at the searing pain emanating from his shoulder, he felt a part of his left shoulder gone.

Without even thinking about it, he aimed for the zombie that had bitten him, and spilled its brain matter on the asphalt of the alley with a trigger pull of his Beretta. He grabbed his shoulder once more, and groaned in pain as his hand touched the wound. Tearing off a piece of his pants, he tied it over his wound, and tried to go on despite the dizziness that was slowly creeping up on him. He had to get back to the station before he bled out or went into shock. It was his only chance.…

Stepping back into the main alley, he froze. Perhaps forty, fifty feet ahead of him was a pack of zombies—there were so many he couldn't even count them all. He wasted no time turning the way he came, and ran as fast as he could for his car. He reached it and, with his entire body screaming bloody murder, flung himself into the driver's seat. He locked his doors and turned the key in the ignition. Taking a moment to breathe, he looked at his wound in the mirror. Indeed, a part of his left shoulder was missing, rendering that arm next to useless. Cursing at the pain again, he groaned.

A sudden pounding at his window sent his heart jumping into his throat. His car was surrounded by the creatures, all of them moaning hoarse, primal cries, hungry for flesh. He shifted into reverse and accelerated, running over a few of the creatures in the process. He shifted into drive and, his shoulder thrumming agony at the sudden move, spun violently with a loud, long _screech!_ and went at top speed for the station.

'_God,'_ he thought as he sped down the street. _'I should never had joined the police force in the first place...'_

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And thus, the end of the first chapter. Now, before I go on, I would like to state that this is _not_, I repeat, _not_ a self-insert. Let me say that again. _This is **not** a self-insert._ The location of Skokie, and any other locations used inside the township are real, or at least a conjuring of memories of my short time there.

I've been out of action for awhile, but I personally think that I've actually improved my style a bit, to make it easier to read. I dunno though. I guess that's up to you to decide. Reviews, questions, comments, suggestions, criticism, flames; all are welcome.

_Beta-readers: F. Buckley, K. O'Laughlin _

_Editors: MayumiH, F. Buckley_

Draft: 11/26/02 (11:10 PM)

Final: 4/18/03 (10:10 PM)

Final ver.2: 9/2/05 (2:33 PM)


	2. Chapter two: Beginning of the Nightmare

_**It's Now or Never**_

**An original Resident Evil fiction written by: Xenogears**

The following is an original story using elements from the game series, Resident Evil, created by Capcom. Any Resident Evil likeliness, similarities or direct takes are used without permission. Anything relating to anyone, whether alive or dead, is purely coincidental, and unintended.

_**Chapter Two:**_

_**Beginning of the Nightmare **_

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_**October 10, 2002**_

_**Skokie, Illinois**_

_**Skokie Police Department Station**_

_**12:47 PM**_

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Officer Paul McHenry knew something was wrong with the town as soon as the murders started: Skokie had not seen a murder case in a good, long while so the very fact that someone had died was enough to grab his attention—let alone the fact that the victims had all been eaten. Still, he had other work to deal with, so he put it in the back of his mind. However, when the murders started to escalate in number (once they had reached about 20 or so), nothing could pry his attention away from it this time. He, like many others, had strayed from their normal beats and spent their shifts driving around the township limits, from Old Orchard mall to Cicero and Touhy. But for the past week his searching had turned up nothing. This troubled the police officer greatly, especially since they seemed to be occurring more and more frequently and coming closer and closer to both Niles West and North high schools. But there was little else he could do. Still, something told him that something big was about to happen that day.

When he had arrived at the station earlier in the day, his cop instincts told him that something _very_ bad was going to happen. Oh, how his instincts were right: at approximately 10:00 PM, the station had heard the first moans outside. At first, they had wondered what it was, so three officers had gone to check it out. Only one of them came back, screaming in a frantic hysteria, "Lock the doors! All of them!"

No one believed his story at first, but when they had seen the cannibalistic creatures approaching, it suddenly dawned on them to start barricading themselves into a room. One of their own had gone out and pointed his gun at them, to try to get them to stop, but they converged on him like a pack of wolves and ravenously devoured him right in front of their eyes. Now there wasn't a single person who didn't believe what the officer had said.

Officer McHenry and his fellow officers were barricaded in a white-walled break room with not much to go on for ammunition. They had used every chair and table in the room to barricade the one and only door, so Officer McHenry was sitting on the floor, his back to a wall. He knew that they would need to find a way to escape, and soon. He wasn't thinking about his own survival; no, he was worrying about his son, Matthew.

'_He should be sleeping by now,'_ he thought. _'At least, I hope he is.'_

He wished that he could somehow reach his son and tell him what was happening, so that he wouldn't endanger himself by going to school. Or, how he could reach his divorced wife who now lived in Indianapolis, and tell her not to visit them this weekend. But now, it seemed that that wouldn't be happening. Leaning his head into the wall behind him he gave a deep sigh and closed his eyes. The situation was far beyond hopeless, and those things were still at their door, moaning, pounding, hoping to sample just a taste of their flesh. The zombies—as he now accepted the fact of what they were—were still here, infesting the police station. They wouldn't give up, he knew. At least, if George Romero's accounts of the things was correct, anyway.

'_So we escape, or die trying,' _he mused ruefully. _'Not an all too pleasant way to go out, either…' _

Every once in awhile, he could hear the sounds of screaming and sporadic gunfire off in the distance. He wished dearly that he could help his fellow officers that were in danger, but he had no choice but to stay in this room. He didn't know how many of those zombies there were, but he knew that they would eventually break through the barricade. So what could he do? Was there anything he could do?

Paul's snapped open as a sudden plan popped into his head. It was risky as hell, but it was much better than the alternative.

"Okay," he said as he stood up, grabbing everyone's attention. "This is what I'm going to do. It's a long shot, but it's worth the risk."

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_**October 10, 2002**_

_**Skokie, Illinois**_

_**Niles West High School**_

_**Room 3620: Physics **_

_**12:45 PM**_

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Matt knew that something was wrong when he was at his bus stop. Everything seemed too...quiet, too still. While he was waiting for the bus, not a single car passed by, which was very strange. The wet mist that was a foot high didn't help to relieve him either. And then, when he had gotten to school, it seemed that the school was less populated than usual. The sky was dark and foreboding, and the winds (was it just him, or could he hear moaning off into the distance?) were the only real noises that were heard. He had a gut feeling that something was wrong. Now that the Principal, Mrs. Singer, had announced a school lock down, he was really beginning to suspect something was up.

He was also quickly becoming really, _really_ bored.

Since the lockdown had been placed into effect, the teachers had stopped teaching, and classrooms had started to turn into end-of-the-day Study Halls: full of talking, but not quite too loud. Still, he was bored out of his skull. Even his calculator with little video games had done little to ease his boredom. So when Peter, Craig and Kevin had hatched a plan to defy the lockdown and escape school, he jumped at the chance.

"Hey, Mr. Matherson," Kevin said, coming up to the teacher with his other friends. "We, uh, really, _really_ need to go to the bathroom. Can you maybe spare us a pass?"

The teacher eyed them suspiciously. "So you want to go to the bathroom all at once?"

"It looks suspicious, I know, but I'm telling you, we really have to go."

'_Come on,' _Kevin thought. _'Take the bait, take the bait...'_

The teacher kept his leering stare on them, eyeing them up and down. "You're not going to try and go and cut school or something, are you?"

"What?" Kevin said, feigning surprise. "No, of course not."

Mr. Matherson gave a "humph" before continuing. "Whatever. I know that you know that the security guards really know how to fish out those who try to do crap like that in school. So it's your asses on the line here." Reaching into his desk, the Physics teacher pulled out a yellow bathroom pass the size of his palm. "You've got five minutes."

'_Yes!'_

"Thanks!" Kevin called as he and his friends hustled out the door.

After clearing the Science Wing, they reached the main hall of the third floor of Niles West High School. The teens stood hugged to the walls, while Peter peeked around the corner. Finding the halls all but deserted, he went into a silent run for the stairwell and gave the signal for the others to follow. They didn't bother to try and take the stairs to the second floor to get their coats from their lockers, since they would most likely be caught. So instead, they stood hunkered around the windows of the third floor stairwell. Peter said, his voice just above a whisper, "Okay, I bet that they're watching the front and back doors, so we'll have to find another way out."

"Two steps ahead of ya," Kevin said gleefully, motioning for the stairwell windows. "These windows are old, so they still have latches that allow you to open them. It's only a small drop to the roof and, from there, the ground. We can get this done, guys."

"Kevin my friend," Craig said, slapping him on the shoulder. "You are a genius."

"Something you don't even come close to," Kevin said with a grin.

Craig looked at his friend with disdain, wondering why he took this kind of guff from them every day. "Shut up, MacDonald."

"Hey, what about Ji Hae?" Peter asked Matt. "I'm sure she'd love this."

"Ji Hae?" Matt responded, shaking his head. "No, she wouldn't like it. Besides, I don't want to get her involved. If we get caught, well, we'll all be in deep shit, right? I don't want her to get in serious trouble because of our own stupidity."

"Her loss," Peter said with a shrug of his shoulders.

And so Kevin and Peter worked the windows until they could open wide enough for them to climb out. Kevin and Peter had to bite back the biggest joke of their lifetime when Craig attempted to climb through the window, thanks to a stern look and a "Don't" from Matt.

After they had all landed on the roof one story below, they dropped another story onto a steel awning of the back entrance, and from there they landed on the asphalt of the Teacher's Parking Lot. Surveying the scene around him, Matt noticed that not only students were absent: there were much fewer cars parked than normal. Opening his ears he found that the sounds of the busy I-94 "Edens" expressway nearby were simply not there, nor were there any sounds of passing cars from Gross Point road. There was barely any wind either. It was if the forces of sound had been eliminated from existence entirely, with the sole exception of the rain that pelted them from above. Matt couldn't help but to suppress a shiver.

"Guys," Matt told his friends, his voice quivering slightly for reasons other than the cold. "This is getting freaky."

"Yeah," Craig said, looking around. "No sounds of cars, people...something's wrong with this town..."

There they stood, no one daring to move an inch, lest something bad happen. After a long silence it was Peter who decided to be brave and step forward.

"Hey, let's not think about this now," he said, moving up to the front of his friends, trying his best to look calm and in control. "We skipped school for a reason. Let's just get the hell out of here."

Concurring with Peter with a grunt or nod of their heads, the others fell into step behind him, Peter leading them on as if he were a Sergeant, and they were his grunts. Reaching the nearby corner of busy Gross Point Road/Central Ave. and Oakton Street, they found a scene like one out of a creepy movie: overhead streetlights were changing their colors, but no cars were driving by. Now, all four boys felt a chill creep up their spines, forcing them to shiver. This was, after all, one of the busiest intersections in the entire township: two major roads and one minor one intersected here. Even at noon there should have been _something_ driving by. It seemed that the only things that were actually living were the trees that swayed slightly with the breeze and rain.

"Is it just me," Kevin voiced the others' fear. "Or has it gotten much colder all of a sudden?"

"It is just you," Peter snapped, though he felt the same way. "So shut up."

"Where should we go guys?" Craig asked.

"I say we head for the library," Matt said, stepping to the front.

"Why the library?" Kevin asked him.

"Dunno. It just seems...safer there than out here. Something's going on, and I got a feeling that it's not good."

"Maybe there's someone there who can tell us what the hell is going on here," Peter said.

With a nod of his head, Matt took up the lead for the mile walk to the library, not caring about getting soaked by the rain, slowly increasing in volume. Along the way, everything they passed looked as if it had taken a hint from the corner they were previously at. It was deathly silent, with the exception of the frigid wind that tore into their skin through their thin clothing. Life itself seemed to had come to a standstill. Even the large weeping willow that they passed on the way seemed to be lower than usual, as if it were reaching out for them, trying to entangle them in its vines. Matt slapped away a vine from the tree as it brushed across his face. He seriously hoped that the way it was swaying was because of the wind. Yet, with the way things were going he wouldn't be surprised if the tree suddenly reached out and grabbed him. Not wanting to test out the theory of his, he ushered on the others at a quicker pace, setting a brisk jog for himself in the process.

Upon reaching the library ten minutes later, they started to walk toward the entrance though the drive-up entryway, when a speeding car came toward them. Matt cried out to the others and just managed to dive out of the way just in time. Whipping their heads around, they watched the vehicle speed forward at perhaps 60 MPH, and slam into a signpost as it made a screeching sharp left turn back onto Oakton Street. The young men stared at the sight for a good long while, as the chill raced up and down their spines again, this time with more intensity and accompanied by a wave of nauseating fear. After a time, they rose from the ground as one and walked toward the front entrance. Craig found that his own knees were a little shaky as he followed the others in.

Letting the doors close silently behind them, they dried themselves off as well as they could. But perhaps halfway through that, they slowly realized that the library was just as quiet and vacant as the outside. The only difference between the two was the absence of the wailing wind, the low hum of florescent lights and the heating system being its replacement.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Matt said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Goddamn," Peter commented aloud, taking a look around. "This is like the last fifteen minutes of _Devil's Advocate_."

"Well," Craig said, shaking the water from his hair. "Let's make the best of our trip. Where should we go?"

Matt thought for a moment. The second and third floors were off-limits due to construction, so they really only had access to things on the first floor. But, then again, they hadn't come this far for nothing. He wanted to call his folks, true. But he also wanted to see just what was going on up stairs. Vaguely, he remembered the time that he played on a construction site when he was a little boy. Just for a moment he forgot the oddness of the situation he was in and let himself become encompassed by the giddy feeling of jumping around a half finished building that h had experienced so long ago.

"Let's see how the construction of the second floor is coming along, shall we?" Matt said, once again taking the lead. "I would hope that there's at least _someone_ up there."

Without any disagreement, the group headed up the nearby stairs, to the second floor of the library. Formerly the Youth Services, it was now designated as an extension of the Adult Department of the first floor. Again, it looked just as deserted as the streets.

While the second floor's expansion project was much along the lines of becoming complete, the third floor expansion wasn't nearly as finished. Upon reaching the pinnacle of the staircase, they found themselves in a construction zone that wasn't shielded by the windows of the lower floors. Instead, a ripstop nylon tarp covered the holes where the windows should have been, but it did little to stop the invading rain and biting cold from the outside. It fluttered with the wind every few seconds, flapping violently at times. There were a few walls up, but they were made of plywood and not very strong. The ceiling was a jumbled mess of concrete, wiring and pipes. The floor was still wood supported by steel beams—having yet to have its floors constructed—and the light bulbs overhead – the only source of lighting—flickered every once in while, usually in sync with the speed of the wind. To complete the scene, an overturned wheelbarrow or two and construction tools cluttered the pseudo-floor. Somehow, Matt felt disappointed.

"Not much to look at," Kevin commented.

"Man," Craig said, his teeth chattering from the cold. Or was it fear? "This is starting to scare me. I mean...shouldn't there be some construction guy up here chewing us out, calling the cops on us?"

"I know," Matt answered, taking a few steps forward, trying to locate anyone around on the floor. "There's _definitely_ something wrong with this place. I mean, this just isn't...natural."

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He didn't know how long it had been since he had been asleep. All he knew was that he was tired, _itchy_, cold and above all, _hungry_. He opened his eyes, but saw nothing. A sense of panic welled within him, but was quickly subdued by his overpowering _need_ for _food_. He _need_ed _food_—warm succulent _meat_. _Now._

He tried to stand on his own, but he found that his arms were weaker than he thought. So, he grabbed for something to help him. He didn't know what it was, but it was round, thin and long, but also thick and cold. He grasped onto it, hoping that it could help him to his feet. Instead, once he pressed his weight into it, it fell over, sending the thing and others like it clattering to the floor. The thing that he had grabbed onto had fallen on his back, but he felt no pain. He simply lay there for a few more moments then crawled out from under the _pipe_ (he remembered it being called something like that), letting it hit the floor. From there, he found his strength to stand. His skin _itch_ed, but he found that he could tolerate it to the point of it being completely normal.

He stood in place for a few moments, listening and waiting. At first, nothing. Then, he felt the presence of something nearby. He could hear..._breath_ing..._heartbeat_s..._footstep_s. He could feel warmth, he could smell..._flesh_. _Food_. He tried to break into a run, but found himself reduced to a stumbling walk. This frustrated him to no end. Perhaps if he raised his arms, he could go a little _fast_er? Ah, yes, that worked.

As he rounded a corner, he could feel that the _warm_th intensified, the _breath_ing sounds increased, along with the _heartbeat_s. But the _footstep_s slowed, and they seemed to be going in the opposite direction. _Away from him._ He gave a _moan_ of frustration. He wasn't allowing this _meal_ to get away from him!

He then started to stumble forward as fast as he could, wanting more than anything to get a taste of that _warm, juicy, wet_, succulent _flesh_. After what seemed forever, his hands latched onto something hard, but _warm_, oh, so warm. The _heartbeat_ was fast now, and the breathing turned into a...what was it called? A _scream_?

Then he lowered his face to the _warm_, _flesh_y part next to the hard part and bit into it. Oh, did it taste _so good_. He took another _bite_, and toppled his prey onto the ground, and started to _bite_ ravenously into the _soft, warm_ _flesh_y parts of the body.

He was _itch_y. But man, was this tasty.

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Matt's ears picked up on a sound from the other side of the floor: the sound of multiple metal objects hitting the ground. They spun at the direction of the noise and stood in place, not even moving a muscle. Matt's pulse began to beat more rapidly, his breathing came on at quicker intervals, and his senses jumped to a new height. He was entering fight or flight mode, the most primal of instincts. After a few long moments, there was no other following noise, and the young men relaxed with a sigh of relief.

"Just the wind, eh?" Craig said with a nervous chuckle.

The others nodded in silent agreement, but still kept their eyes on the direction of the noise. It was then that another sound of metal hitting the floor sounded, but this time it sounded as if it were only one object, hitting with less force…as if it had landed on something else besides the hard floor. They dismissed it once again; just the wind knocking over some more pipes, perhaps.

Craig walked forward, the fear that was once present in his voice now almost completely gone. "Let's go look around, yeah? I'm gonna check out what that was."

"Wait a minute, Craig," Kevin said. "We should stay together here."

"Ohhh," Craig tormented him. "Is itty bitty Kevin afrwaid of da boggey man? Do you think dat monsters are gonna come out and hurt us?"

The left side of Kevin's face twitched, something that usually happened when he was angry. "Don't even start with me, Miller."

Craig simply laughed at him. "Let's just have a ball! We're free from school! Everything's gonna be fine!" And so Craig went on ahead, but turned around one last time. "Besides, I can't stop until I know everything that's going on, Matt."

After Craig had disappeared around the corner, Matt threw up his arms in defeat. "Well, he never was able to control that curiosity of his."

Kevin, mimicking Matt's actions said, "That always was his bad point."

Matt walked off in another direction as well, checking over the layout of the room, the progress of the construction, and how gaudy and unfinished the floor looked. He knocked his knuckles against a plywood wall, knowing that if he were to try, he could punch straight through the wall. Then an idea occurred to him. Why not try it? The construction workers would be pissed to find this, but he'd find some way to not get caught. Right now it looked like they were on a lunch break or something.

He breathed in deeply, placing his palm against the thin wood. He tried to focus his internal energies, to concentrate his mind one task at hand. His one mission in life became to break the wood, without so much as feeling a little hint of pain. He breathed in again and—

"_Guys! He—auuuggghhh—!"_

That voice...Craig! Matt spun on his heel and, along with Peter and Kevin, followed the cries of their friend. When they reached him, they were horrified. Craig's face was...bitten into, torn away almost, his collarbone a bloody mess, and his neck wide open, so that his spine could be seen. His mouth and eyes were frozen in a death scream.

Then, they saw the thing that was lying on top of him…eating him: it was a human, no doubt, he was a muscular construction worker, with dirty overalls and dirty clothing underneath, but his skin was brownish-gray and rotting, giving off a foul smell. From what he could see, his eyes were cataracted, with the pupil and iris blotched out as if he were blind.

Matt then snapped out of the daze that still held effect over his friends. He needed to find a way to save him. Looking around quickly for a weapon, he found a steel pipe. Brandishing it as if it were a sword, he swung it at the construction worker in a sideways stroke, hitting him squarely in the temple with a sickening _crunch._ The construction worker fell over; giving out one last hoarse moan before it fell silent, save for the death throes that it spasmed though.

He immediately went over to his friend, and bent down to him. He didn't need to be a doctor to know that his wounds were far beyond fatal. Their friend, Craig Miller, was dead. After a long silence, Kevin spoke.

"Is...is he...really...?"

"Yeah," Matt said, looking away, fighting back tears. "He's dead."

Kevin hid his face with his hand, and gave a single pitiful sob. Peter, looked at the dead form of their friend, and clenched his knuckles.

"You dumb, fat, son of a bitch," Peter rasped, his voice full of vehemence. "If only you weren't so goddamn stupid..."

The friends could only cry in silence, regretting not being able to do something about their friend. It was a few minutes later, when they heard the sound of shuffling feet, and they looked up as a whole. In the far back of the floor was a group of construction workers, but something about them was wrong. They were exactly like the construction worker that Matt had just killed, only some of them looked as if they were bleeding, as if parts of them had been torn away. One of them was even missing an arm past his elbow. What could they be? Matt didn't want to know. He grabbed his pipe and started to back up.

"It's like they're...zombies or something!" Kevin stammered in a panic as the young men started to back up toward the staircase.

They then turned and ran down the stairs, jumping down from the last few steps to the first floor. They could hear the moans of the hungry things upstairs, and they knew that they would be following them down the staircase.

"I'm telling you," Kevin said. "They're zombies!"

"We get the point, dammit!" Peter rasped.

Usually, Peter or Matt would have argued with Kevin about something obviously so unreal. Now though, fact stared them in the face and hit them with a hammer in the head, so they accepted it as it was; they were the walking dead. Even as Matt thought about it, he couldn't help but to think how ridiculous and simply _unreal_ that sounded. They started to run for the exit, but stopped upon seeing the windows and doors to the new Youth Services department. Standing there, howling, moaning and clawing and pounding at the glass were countless zombies. So many, in fact, that Matt could have sworn that they seemed to go all the way back to the other end of the library—a good forty feet or so. The three teens stood and gaped in utter disbelief at the sight before them, almost completely paralyzed with fear.

"Never thought I'd hear myself say this," Matt said, backing up for the doors. "But let's head back to the school! Now!"

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Ji Hae's study hall was only slightly livelier than the others throughout the school were and that was mostly due to the music that some students had taken to playing. Even Ji Hae was playing on her flute. Meticulously going through her music with the precision and dedication of a practiced musician, she played Pachelbel's _Cannon in D Major_. After going through half the score of _Guys and Dolls_—which was the upcoming play that her whole orchestra was rehearsing for—she had grown tied of the fast paced and upbeat notes of Frank Loesser and was now settling down into something more slow and soothing…even if it was mostly to quell her own rising anxiety.

It was no secret to the student body that there was something strange afoot. Ji Hae herself had been wondering why the principal had ordered the lock down…if there was such a big danger, then why not just send them home? That is, unless the danger was from the outside. But what could it be? Skokie was a relatively safe place; most of the crime came from drug dealers and even then only in very small areas of the township (or so her father told her). Could it be that the murders that everyone was talking about were getting that bad? No matter what she did, Ji Hae couldn't wrap her head around it.

Just as she had finished off her last note, there was a slamming at the door, jolting her from her trance. Looking up to the source of the noise, she became dead silent along with the rest of the room. Looking through the door's glass, she could see the school's principal standing there. But…something seemed strange. It was the way that she was carrying herself: her movements seemed slowed, the way she kept pounding against the glass (why was she even doing that?) her clothing ruffled and torn at the right sleeve and—

The blood. She was bleeding from her arm.

Ji Hae jumped out of her seat and gasped and was about to say something, but her orchestra teacher, Mr. Koch, stepped to the door. "Oh quiet already you old hag," he muttered under his breath. He reached for the knob, but then realizing that it was locked he went fishing in his pockets for the key. The principal was still banging against the glass… "I got you, Mrs. Singer! I'm opening the door. Sheesh."

The moment that he slid the key into the lock the glass shattered inward and the principal grabbed Mr. Koch by the shoulders. He, along with everyone let out a startled gasp, which quickly turned into a scream of terror once they saw what transpired next. Pulling Mr. Koch halfway through the door, the hapless teacher struggled to fend her off, but she was impossibly strong for a woman of her size and stature. He could do little to stop the principal from pulling him closer and lowering her head to his neck, where she _bit_ into him. Mr Koch let out a startled scream which was quickly turned into a gurgle as the principal continued biting deeper and deeper into the man's throat. Panic began to spread throughout the room as people rushed to find an escape. But Ji Hae could only stare in mute, dumbstruck shock.

_The principal was eating her teacher._

Only now it was not just the principal. No, there were two others who came up from behind the principal and latched on to the now dead body of Mr Koch and began to feast on whatever they could grab, rabidly tearing away at his flesh like a pack of mad, rabid dogs. Ji Hae, for the life of her, could not grasp the situation. It defied all logic. Why was this happening? Her hand twitched, most likely not from her cerebral palsy, causing her flute to fall to the floor. This just was _not possible._

Now the principal seemed done with her "meal"—or maybe she found a better one. The look that she gave Ji Hae with those lifeless, milky eyes, was enough to convince her of that. Ji Hae was suddenly thrown back into reality and she did the only thing that she could bring herself to do.

She screamed.

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_Beta-readers: F. Buckley, K. O'Laughlin _

_Editors: MayumiH, F. Buckley_

Draft: 12/1/02 (1:09 PM)

Final: 5/2/03 (11:41 PM)

Final ver.2: 9/3/05 (5:22 AM)

Author's notes: This one—while not one of the better written—was still one of my favorites. Personally, telling the story from the zombie's point of view…while not revolutionary (it was, after all, inspired by that one diary in the original Resident Evil where the scientist slowly turns into a zombie), it was still fun to do. I went crazy mad on the italicizing to show what the zombie was really thinking: how you see it is in the words that I put down. But being that his brain is quite degenerated, the italicized words are the only ones he can remember/articulate and thus I empathized them. And yeah, I also admit that I had a blast killing off Craig. XD

In case you guys were wondering, I managed to find a map of Skokie and edited it a little bit to help show the locations that are in this story. Before anyone goes looking, Old Orchard is at the very top, while the corner of Cicero (also known as Skokie Blvd.) and Touhy is not shown—I couldn't have enough room for it. But it's not that much further south. red star is Niles West high school. The red circle is the approximate location of the Skokie Public Library, while the blue dot is the approximate location of the Searle Labs (which, if I remember correctly, is now a property owned by Phizer) and the black circle is the Skokie Police Station HQ. The blue box is Ji Hae's condo, the red box is Kevin's house, the violet box is Peter's house and the yellow box is Matt's house. If new locations arise that I don't make up, then I'll be sure to mark them down.

http / photo bucket . com / albums/v234/ RasputinMan?actionview& current mq-mapgend.gif

(Just be sure to remove all the spaces, put in the colon and the extra forwardslash, and you should be fine. Is this even allowed? Seems like FF .net doesn't want me putting URLs in my stories...)

I'm taking a page out of Peptuck's book…author responses (all three of them!)!

AnimaSola: Yes, this is indeed a repost of a previous story of the same name (note the long distance of time between the first and second final versions?). Frankly, I wasn't too happy with what I had put up before. And as every author knows, it's almost impossible to go back to his/her previous works and completely rewrite them. So mainly what you'll be seeing for the first six or seven chapters is what I had up before, but edited (grammar/spelling corrections, better word choices, etc.). I might even throw in an extra scene or two. For instance, the scene where Ji Hae and her class comes under attack by the zombies was one of those new scenes. If you have a good enough memory, you'll also notice that I cut off the chapter there, before adding in the parts where the teens get back to school. That begins in the next chapter.

I have a better idea of where the story is going and how to get there, unlike last time where I wrote it from the top of my head pretty much. What I can promise you is this: the last three chapters or so WILL be completely different from what I had previously imagined…though since I didn't post them I don't know how much of a difference that would make to you guys. ;; The main thing that I want to work out is proper character development—I already have some more ideas on how to do that.

I should have the next chapter up by the middle of next week or so. I want to keep a weekly or biweekly schedule if possible. Hope you can keep interest long enough.

SilverSpoons: Heh. Thanks. As you'll notice (even by looking at my previous works) I do my best when I'm writing action scenes. And yeah, those high school experiences were based off of my own as well as what I had heard from other people. At least, with the morning routine and the PE crap. God, I still have some of those tracks stuck in my head and no amount of Rammstein or The Black Mages will clear it from my memory. Woe is me.

Tinkies: Enthusiastic now, aren't we?

The reason that I made that disclaimer about not being a self-insert was because of the comments that I got from other test readers from my school (back then, high school. College now). What they failed to realize was that I took some of the personality traits and experiences from various friends and acquaintances and molded them together under characters with completely different names. Some characters even have personality traits from multiple people in them. While you COULD call it a self insert, it wasn't truly one. Besides, every writer puts at least a bit of him/herself in his/her characters, no?

I forget who said it…but whoever was the guy that said that an author writes best on what he knows about, well, knows what he was talking about.

Keep reviewing and I'll keep writing dudes/dudets! Suggestions are also greatly appreciated as well.

(Author comments completed: 9/5/05, 4:43 AM)


	3. Chapter three: Around Town

_**It's Now or Never**_

**An original Resident Evil fiction written by: Xenogears**

The following is an original story using elements from the game series, Resident Evil, created by Capcom. Any Resident Evil likeliness, similarities or direct takes are used without permission. Anything relating to anyone, whether alive or dead, is purely coincidental, and unintended.

_**Chapter Three:**_

_**Around Town**_

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_**October 10, 2002**_

_**Skokie, Illinois**_

_**Skokie Public Library**_

_**1:07 PM, raining**_

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They bolted though the front doors of the library and kept on running, ignoring the few zombies that had suddenly appeared from seemingly out of nowhere on the streets, and taking no heed to the now light drizzle that the pouring rain had calmed down to. Stopping about halfway for a few seconds to catch their breath, they sprinted on again at double speed, not bothering to stop again until they reached Niles West High School's front doors. Breathing hard, they took a look around before they stepped in.

As they could already see, the glass doors that were normally quite sturdy were now either off their hinges, or outright shattered. Still-dripping blood dribbled down from one of the shards of glass of the shattered doors, adding to the already ominous feeling that was shared between the teens. The security desk just ten or so yards from the door was abandoned, which assured them that something was indeed wrong.

"We're...going to need something...to protect ourselves," Peter said in between gasping breaths.

"Come on," Matt answered him in a voice. "I think...I got something in my car."

They jogged over to the student parking lot, where Matt's blue, four-door Ford Focus was waiting. Most of the other students thought he was crazy for leaving the car in the parking lot most of the time, but Matt preferred taking the bus with Ji Hae and the others. Besides, it was always nice to have backup transportation in case something went wrong at school. Something like now.

Popping open the trunk, he handed his steel pipe over to Peter. He dug though a duffel bag until he came out with a _shinai_, a fencing sword made of strips of hard bamboo tied together with a wooden handle. There was another _shinai _in the bag, which he gave to Kevin. Rarely did Matt ever drive his car, mainly to save money on gas. He would most often leave it at school in the parking lot and take the bus to and from school.

"Why are you giving me the pipe?" Peter asked. "It's a hell of a lot harder than that thing."

Holding the bamboo sword at his side, Matt answered in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone, "That's because the _shinai _is lighter and less bulky than the pipe. If it's swung right, it can still crack someone's neck. Fortunately, I know just how to do that."

Peter shrugged his shoulders, and took in a deep breath. "Let's go. We got to see if there's anyone left."

Matt and Kevin nodded in agreement, and walked in step with Peter, until Matt broke the stride with a start. "Ji Hae!" were his only words. Without saying another word to the others, he sprinted ahead and into the school, despite Kevin and Peter's cries to wait up. Upon entering the main front hallway, he frantically spun his head to the left, right, and forward.

'_Okay, Matt. Think. Where is she now? It's a little past one, at mods 22-24...' _Matt thought, looking down one hallway to the next. There were no zombies in sight, but he knew that they were inside this school somewhere. They just had to be. Grinding his teeth together, he squeezed his eyes shut in concentration_. 'Think, dammit!'_

After perhaps a second more, realization hit him. _'Orchestra!'_

It was then that his friends caught up with him. "Don't run off like that, man," Kevin admonished him. "It's too dangerous to split up."

Without even apologizing, Matt went on. "We have to go find Ji Hae! She's at Orchestra! Come on!"

His friends had no objections. Not only did they know that they couldn't persuade him, but they did care for Ji Hae. Not as much as Matt did of course, but they still thought of her as a close friend. Taking a moment to reflect on some old memories, Kevin thought back on their first day that they had all met her in the fourth grade. She had been smart, yes, but overly shy. He remembered that he, Peter and Kevin were the first to approach her besides the teachers and make her a friend. Coming back to reality, he rounded a corner with the others. Dashing down the hall, they entered the auditorium through the back entrance, taking a look around. No one, not even a single one of those zombie were around.

"_Ji Hae--!"_ Matt called out. _"Where are you!"_

They were given no answer. So, Matt proceeded to lead them behind the stage and down the Music Hall, where the band and orchestra usually rehearsed. Opening the door that was used by the orchestra to rehearse, Matt had to blink several times to make sure that he was seeing straight. The sight before them was as if a hurricane had struck. Chairs, music stands, instruments lying on the floor, damaged. Then there were the few bodies left of the players. All of them were torn open in some way, some only had halves of them left, missing limbs, all well beyond dead. The three teens had to turn their heads at the sight, but were forced to walk by. Matt swallowed the bile slowly beginning to rise in his throat and forced himself look over the carnage to see if Ji Hae was included in the body count. To his immense relief, she wasn't there.

Walking further into the room, they came into some sort of storage area, with large cabinets and boxes stacked on top of one another. The lighting was adequate, but it was a bit cold, despite the heating that the school enjoyed.

"_Ji Hae!" _Matt called out with his hands cupped over his mouth. _"Where are you!"_

Even as his friends covered their ears from the loudness of his voice, there was nothing. So they began to walk around the room, looking behind crates, even in them, but they found no trace of her.

"Dammit!" Matt exclaimed as he smashed his fist down into a crate. The impact splintered the crate a bit, but it did not break. "Where the hell is she?"

It was then that a sound emerged from one of the cabinets that they had not checked. Cautiously, they approached it. Indeed, the sound came from here. After what happened with Craig back at the library, Matt had decided that he would be prepared. Standing on either side of the door were Kevin and Peter who gave him a nod to open the cabinet door. And so, placing his hands on the handles, he flung them open, and let out a war cry as he nearly brought his _shinai_ down on the person hunched into a fetal position inside. Realizing almost instantly that it was Ji Hae, Matt stopped his bamboo sword in mid-flight, just inches from her head. He let the _shinai_ drop to the ground, he bent down to Ji Hae.

"Ji Hae?" He asked her in the most comforting voice he could muster. "Are you okay?"

Bringing her head up from her fetal position, Ji Hae looked up at Matt with tearstained eyes. After making sure he was real, she clung to him, letting fresh tears flow. Matt held her close and said nothing, waiting for her to stop. When she had regained a bit of her composure some time later, she sat back and took a deep, shaky breath.

"Matt," she started. "Thank God you're okay. It...it was horrible..." Pausing again, she went on, "I was there! Mrs. Singer, the principal burst through the doors and, and, and, she…she _ate _Mr. Koch. She ate him! Then, she turned to me and…and…I ran for the back. The others tried to follow me, but they couldn't get themselves locked behind something, I guess. I heard them all…die. Eaten alive by those…things. T-they kept banging on my door, but they couldn't open it. They, they, they left after a long time…God Matt, it was awful!"

She held back her sobs, but two tears escaped her eyes. She wiped her eyes and snorted her nose once or twice, then went on again. "But...thankfully, you're okay. Where were you?"

"Me?" Matt answered a bit sheepishly. "Well, Kevin, Craig, Peter and I, we kinda, uh, sneaked out of school."

"Kevin, Peter and Craig? Where are they?"

"Right here," Peter said, coming out from his side of the cabinet. "Kevin's over there."

"And Craig?"

Matt, Kevin and Peter lowered their heads as one. Ji Hae cocked her head to the side. "What's wrong, guys?" she asked tentatively.

"Craig," Kevin said, letting out a long breath. "You see..."

And so, Kevin related their tale of how they had managed to sneak out of school, and get to the library. He then went on to tell of their first encounter with the zombies, and how they had found Craig, quite dead. After he had finished, a solemn silence filled the air as the four recollected and gathered their thoughts and feelings.

"Craig...he's...dead?" Ji Hae asked slowly.

"I'm...yeah..." Matt replied in a shaky voice. Matt then buried his face in one hand, and began to cry silently, something that Kevin and Peter did as well: just that they had the decency to look the other way. Ji Hae, who wasn't as close to Craig as the three teens, could only look on in shock at the knowledge of his death, and that she had never seen any of them cry before. Ji Hae reached her hand out for Matt, but he brushed her off with his other hand. "Just...please.…"

But she didn't give up. Instead, she played the part of the comforter, holding his head to her chest. Perhaps it was this position on her bosom that made Matt accept her touch, but it seemed that it didn't matter to him. He still cried silently into her purple knit sweater, wrapping his hand behind her back. All the while, Ji Hae was just as patient with him as he was with her earlier, even holding him as close to her as she could, brushing the back of his head with her hand. After a good long while, Matt had recollected himself and bravely pulled himself up into a standing position. His eyes bloodshot, he tried his best to look strong.

"We'd better get going," Peter said as he rubbed his eyes, his voice still a little hoarse. "We're surrounded by those things after all. Won't take 'em long to find us."

Kevin and Matt nodded. "Right," Matt answered, then turned to Ji Hae. "Now listen, Ji Hae. I don't care if you see _anyone_ you recognize. If they're walking like those monsters, and looking like them, then they are one of them. They're no longer human; they're the walking dead."

Ji Hae hesitated, but nodded her head in response.

"How about any of your other friends?" Kevin asked.

Ji Hae gave the same sad expression that the boys had expressed earlier. "They're one of them, most likely. All of my other friends' classes are on the first floor by now, so..."

"We understand," Matt said, giving Ji Hae his hand as she rose to her feet. He managed to flash her a real smile. "For now, let's just worry about getting out of here alive."

Ji Hae looked him directly in his red, puffy eyes and let a small smile show on her lips.

'_So he really does care for me a lot,'_ she thought. _'He could have just not even come looking for me to save himself, but now I think I'm seeing more of who he really is.'_

Gathering their wits about them, the young teens rose from the floor and walked out of the auditorium, and into the main hallway. At the intersection of the Main Lobby and the Auditorium they stood thinking about their next course of action. The front entrance was a few yards down their left, so it would be easy to just slip away then and there, but Matt, Kevin, Peter and Ji Hae wanted to see if they could find any other people that would be alive. So, they decided to take the path in front of them that would lead them to the Oakton Lobby. However the lobby was nothing more than a mess of overturned tables and chairs, broken soda and snack machines and broken glass. The doors that were in this lobby were broken and shattered too, leading them to the obvious conclusion that the zombies had entered the building from more than one direction. Judging from this amount of destruction, it was a wonder why they hadn't encountered any more zombies. While they did not dwell on it long, they were thankful for it, whatever the reason.

From there, they took the nearby staircase to the second floor to look in one of the biggest parts of the school, the IRC. The IRC, short for Information Resource Center, was just a fancy name for a school library. As they walked down the halls, they could see down at the far south end of the halls that there were figures shuffling toward the science wing. While they couldn't see them clearly, they were certain that the figures were the undead. Thankfully, they were going in the opposite direction of the teens.

"Let's hurry this up," Kevin said. "We don't know when one of those things could pop up."

They entered the IRC cautiously, with Peter at vanguard point position. They slowly walked forward, forming a protective shield around the unarmed Ji Hae. The IRC was in surprisingly good shape, looking as if it hadn't been touched at all. Even the odd smell of blood and rotting flesh that now floated throughout the school wasn't apparent in the IRC. They were almost about to think that they were alone in the room when they heard a low, hungry moan. Looking to their left, they found two of the hideous zombies who looked like they were once former students stumbling for them, trying to get around the long row of computers that separated the living from the undead. Using the machines as a barrier between them, the three armed teens rushed up to the creatures and swung their weapons at their assailants' heads.

With Kevin and Matt on one of them, there was a sharp _snap_ as their _shinai_ connected with its neck and head at opposite sides and the zombie crumpled to the floor, lifeless. Peter on the other hand only needed to give a good swing at the head of the creature with his steel pipe, creating a wet _crunch_ as its skull caved in. Suddenly, the side door behind Peter burst open and another zombie came shuffling out. His friends shouted an alarm at him just as he sidestepped. As the zombie stumbled forward, he smashed his pipe into the back of the undead's kneecaps, dropping it to the floor. Raising his pipe high above his head, he brought it down on the zombie's cranium, splashing the white walls and garishly tan carpet with crimson brain matter.

As the undead lay motionless on the floor, no longer a threat, Kevin called out, "Hey! Anyone here?"

His reply was a loud chorus of moans from the far end of the library. The three young men raised their weapons and waited for the threat to show. Seconds later, they could see countless zombies stumbling or crawling toward them from the far end of the IRC. Most of them were coming out from behind the bookcases. Looking behind them, they could see that there were also some approaching them from behind the front desk.

"Guys...?" Ji Hae nervously asked, cowering in fear.

"Well, uh," Kevin stuttered at the sight before him, turning his head this way and that, trying to decide upon a course of action. _"Run!"_

Turning on their heels, they ran for the doors, just barely avoiding the undead from behind the front desk. Springing into the front hall, the teens whipped their heads from right to left. From the science wing to the south, the shuffling figures that they had seen earlier were now a massive group of thirty or more zombies, shoving over each other just to get to them. To the north, the social sciences hall, there was a clear path. Their choice was clear.

Wordlessly taking the lead once more, Matt led the teens down the hall, breaking into a sprint. As he reached the staircase at the far end of the hallway, however, he saw another group of undead lurching at them from down the stairs. From the third floor, more zombies stumbled down the staircase, intending to make them their next meal. Backing out of the doorless stairwell, Matt spun around, intending to use the rear second floor hallway to get to the front entrance, and thus to safety. He turned just in time to see yet another pack of undead burst though the door leading to the rear stairwell.

There was only one option left. Turning to room 2116 to his immediate right, he placed his hand on the doorknob and thankfully found that it turned. Pushing the others inside, he slammed the door shut, and they went to work barricading themselves in the room. Because of the undead so close to the stairwell, they barely had time to push a file cabinet and a desk against the door.

Stepping back to inspect their work, they found that, considering the massive amount of zombies they were faced with, they only had so much time before the undead would come bursting through the door.

"What are we gonna do?" Kevin asked frantically, his voice panting from the overload of adrenaline coursing through his veins. "That ain't going to hold too long..."

Matt looked around for options. First, he considered himself lucky that there were no zombies in the room they were in. Second, he saw that the windows were boarded up, mysteriously. Behind him, there was a door to a separate another little room inside the classroom.

"In there!" Matt exclaimed.

Peter, who was first, flung open the door, and ushered the others in. The windows in here weren't boarded up at all, thankfully. Getting to work immediately, Peter and Matt went to work on prying one of the windows open, while Ji Hae and Kevin worked on the other.

'_Come on, you piece of shit!' _Peter's mind shouted. _'Open...open...! Open! OPEN!'_

Perhaps it was that thinking, or maybe it was the sound of their barricade being broken through. Whatever it was that gave Peter and Matt the burst of strength they needed to open the window, it came, giving them a much-needed escape route.

Matt pushed Ji Hae through the window first, followed by Peter, then Kevin. Upon Matt's turn, the door behind him burst open, and the zombies began to fill into the crowded space. Matt jumped for the window, slamming his stomach on the windowsill. It hurt, but the only thing on his mind was survival, so he managed to repel the pain and squeeze himself through the window.

He gave a sudden yelp as he felt his foot being grabbed by one of the zombies behind him. His friends, already seeing this, grabbed onto him and pulled for all they were worth.

'_I'm not gonna die!' _Matt thought desperately, trying to kick off the monsters grabbing onto his leg. _'I'm not gonna DIE!'_

His friends' combined strength, coupled with Matt's kicking, left the zombies with only a worn-out running sneaker, and not the flesh they hungered for. Matt was sent falling back with his friends onto the roof of the main office below them. Moans and wails of frustration could be heard escaping from their throats as the zombies attempted to crawl through the window themselves.

"Ah, who needed that old shoe anyway?" Matt chuckled ruefully. Despite his slight smile, his limbs were trembling slightly with his brief brush with death.

"Screw that," Peter exclaimed as he ran toward the edge of the building. Taking a quick look over, he called back to the others: "We have to get down! There's grass below, if you aim yourself right. Come on!"

Peter leapt off the ledge, and fell one story below. Soon afterwards, there was Peter's grunt after he hit the ground. Matt was next, jumping off, and breaking into a somersault roll as he hit the grass. Kevin attempted the same, but landed wrong and ended up rolling unto the cement. Largely unhurt, he still grimaced a bit. Were this not a situation of this magnitude, Matt and Peter would have laughed at their friend.

Ji Hae was last, but she hesitated at the edge, not so sure of herself. Matt knew that she had hated heights ever since she was little, but even in a situation like this.…

"Jump, Ji Hae!" Matt shouted.

"B-but—"

"No 'buts'! I'll catch you! Trust me!" just as he finished his sentence, Ji Hae whipped her head behind her to see the first of the undead to crawl out the window and onto the roof. "Come on, Ji Hae! _Jump!"_

Ji Hae froze for a few moments, watching the zombies begin to crawl out the window, one by one. She had nothing to defend herself with and she doubted that her strength could take them down. She had no time. Hesitating not a moment more, she closed her eyes and took a leap of faith off the roof, finding herself on top of someone once she landed. Opening her eyes, she realized it was Matt. She rolled off him as soon as she found that her impact had knocked both of them to the ground, and hastily apologized.

Peter took up the lead and directed them to the student parking lot, heading for Matt's car. By now, the undead—both adults and their fellow classmates—were cascading out of any opening they could find through the glass windows and doors of the school. As they looked toward the large field used by P.E classes, the teens could see innumerous amounts of the moaning, drooling, rotting things stumbling over toward the parking lot. Worst yet, the undead who were already in the parking lot had noticed the humans and starting their walking, stumbling gait toward them. The ones piling out from the main auditorium entrance were starting to come for them now as well. They piled into the car in a frantic mess. Matt was the last one, still digging out his keys even as he slipped behind the wheel. He slammed the door and his key ring accidentally tumbled from his nervous fingers. "Shit!"

Ji Hae pounded on the back of his seat. "They're coming!"

Matt reached under his seat, groping for the keys. He blocked out all of the other sounds—Ji Hae's pounding, Peter's swearing, Kevin's mumbling, even the ever-closer moans—and concentrated just on getting the keys back in hand. His calmness helped: his finger brushed the familiar cold metal and he snatched them up, finding the ignition key almost by instinct. He jammed it into the steering column and started the engine. The car screeched into gear, and they sped away from the school at top speed.

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"_**Downtown Skokie", corner of Oakton St. and Lincoln Ave.**_

_**Atop parking garage of Bank One**_

_**1:24 PM, cloudy**_

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Peter stood overlooking the downtown area—if it could even be called that—of Skokie, leaning with both his elbows on the concrete railing. Surprisingly, despite their close proximity to the school and library (which Peter could see from here), there weren't many zombies in this area, and if those below came anywhere near them, they had Matt's nearby car to escape in. This four-story parking lot was the second highest point in all of Skokie, next to the roof of the Searle office building not far away. Here, Peter and his friends would sit, joke around, plan pranks, lie on the concrete and stare at the sky, and otherwise do aimless things to pass the time and forget about the world.

So why did this usually mind-clearing place suddenly seem not-so-mind-clearing?

Peter couldn't suppress a smirk. Of course he knew the answer. _'Hello! Flesh-eating monsters infest the whole damn town—and most likely, the surrounding area—! What world are you in, Safian?'_

"So what are we going to do now?" He could hear Ji Hae ask.

"Good question," Kevin answered. "I mean, just look at things! Everything has gone to hell! Chances are, we're the only ones, at least in our age group, that are still alive. With the exception of that speeding car we haven't seen anyone else around."

"We can check up on our parents," Matt offered. "Well, your parents anyway."

"'Our' parents?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah. My Dad's at the Police station right now, and since that's probably the safest place to be, I think he's okay. Who I'm really worried about is my Master."

"Ah, Master Ito, eh?"

Matt nodded. Master Jun Ito ran a Kenjutsu/Jujitsu dojo near the Skokie/Evanston border. Matt had been there for the past seven years of his life, and had gained a great deal of respect for his master, going so far as to call him his "second father."

"Peter?" Ji Hae asked, and they all turned to the young man.

"Well, I'm not expecting my dad to be home," Peter answered. "Probably still working at Searle Labs, and they've most likely got that place locked up tighter than a virgin's-you-know-what." Suddenly, a wide, toothy grin spread across Peter's face. "But, I might be able to find one of my Dad's guns."

"Great idea," Matt said, then turned to his girlfriend. "Ji Hae?"

"Well, my father and mother are probably still at home, and Dad can most likely take care of them both, so..."

Matt nodded. "Okay, it's settled then. First, I'd like to go see if my master is okay. Kevin, we'll go to your place next to check up on your mother."

"Probably won't be there," Kevin replied. "Searle pulled her out of town on a last-minute business trip or something."

"Then try to find something useful there," Matt went on: "Then, we'll swing over to Peter's. Last, we'll hit Ji Hae's place. Deal?"

Everyone else nodded.

"Good. Now let's go."

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_**Near Dempster and McCormick St.**_

_**Koukushikan Kenjustu/Jujitsu Dojo**_

_**1:44 PM, dark clouds**_

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The first thing that Matt noticed was the doors were intact. Unlocked, but intact. It was a major relief to him.

'_Master, please be okay...'_

Still, he was prepared for anything save for another pack of zombies. Raising his _shinai_ into a stance, he walked into the dojo, not bothering to remove his shoe. Taking a look around, he found that the dojo was like when he had last been there, the night before. Everything from the pads to the sparring and fencing gear was in place where it should be. Walking over to the sword rack, Matt pulled off a short wooden sword with a plastic blade guard. He lowered his _shinai_ and sheathed it into a belt strap of his jeans, figuring that the small sword could cave in softened skulls better, with a lesser chance of breaking.

"Master Ito?" Matt called out. "It's me, Matt! Master Ito! Are you here?"

He was given no response, so along with his friends walked over to the changing rooms. No one was in there, either. So, going back out into the main dojo, he called out again, "Master Ito!"

This time, there was a noise from the Master's office. Matt couldn't quite make out what it was. So, he called out once more. "Master Ito! Is that you?"

The door to the office slowly creaked open and following it was what looked like a rotting corpse dressed in a black martial arts uniform. Only Kevin, Ji Hae and Matt knew who it was. Master Ito. Even though it looked as if he hadn't been eaten, his skin was still grayish-white, with wrinkling and sagging all over the face and limbs. The eyes were a milky white, clouding over his pupils. His once full head of hair was now half gone. He stumbled forward, with a hungry moan, and raised his arms.

The teens backed up and Matt stuttered, "M-master...?"

Peter raised his steel pipe. "Come on, Matt. Don't get emotional on me now. He's not human anymore. We have to dispose of him."

Peter took a step forward, but Matt shouted out, _"No!"_ and pulled him back. Peter was about to reprimand him when Matt answered, his voice full of sadness, "Let me do it."

He stepped ahead of the others, and faced his former master, who was slowly closing the gap between them. Matt raised the wooden sword and went into an aggressive stance, with the blade held parallel to the left side of his face, the sharp side of the blade facing to the left as well. His legs were split and bent as if he were riding a horse, his breathing controlled. Closing his eyes, he focused his strength into one attack.

He ignored the cries of his friends to act, and kept on concentrating. After his former master had closed half the gap between them, Matt's eyes sprung open, and he let out a screaming war cry as he charged forward.

The blade connected with the neck, and with a spray of blood, the head went flying straight off, hitting the wall with a sickening _splunch_. Matt had swung with one hand in perfect form, in the perfect spot, with the perfect amount of force. He still stayed in stance, with his arm outstretched. It wasn't until the headless corpse took a few more steps forward and toppled to the floor and spluttering up blood from the stump where the head had once been, that Matt relaxed his stance. He lowered his head, and looked at the wooden blade he held, stained with his former master's blood.

He tossed the blade aside, and forced back tears. He forced himself to take it like a man, trying to convince himself that he was relieving his master from pain. It was that thinking that stopped him from crying right then and there, perhaps only letting a tear or two escape his eyelids.

"You're right, Peter," Matt said in a low voice. "It needed to be done."

Matt took in a deep breath and stood still for a moment more, then let it out and walked calmly into his former master's office. A few moments later, he came out holding a real sword, with a real scabbard held in two of his jeans' belt straps. He was wearing a pair of _zori_ in place of his one remaining shoe.

"This is the dojo sword," he announced proudly. "Since no other student is available to take it, it is only proper that one of his senior students take it, now that its former owner is dead."

The hilt of the sword had black wrappings around it, typical of any _katana_, leaving white diamond patterns in the areas it did not cover. The blade guard was of a slightly worn silver, with two small holes to the right and left of the blade, and simple patterns etched around them. Matt had been told that the sword was over six hundred years old, when the last of the best swords were made. His master had said that he kept it in such good condition, that it looked like it was new. That, and it was of the _dotanuki_ battle sword class, which was known for, among many things, its durability.

Matt forced a weak smile. "Let's get going."

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_**Morton Grove, Illinois**_

_**MacDonald Residence, Lake St., near Forest Preserve**_

_**2:23 PM, drizzling rain**_

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Kevin led the group into his house. Though Matt and Peter had been there many times before, Kevin still knew the house better than they did. He walked with them into the kitchen, calling out for anyone. No answer. So, he reached into his fridge, and grabbed some milk, and then got some cookies from his pantry, motioning the others to sit down. His house wasn't very big, but still had two floors and a basement. Its walls were of a bleach white, with red plush carpeting. Their living room was connected to their dining room without so much as a doorway separating them.

The kitchen however, was. There was a doorway leading to the front room, and another on the other side leading to the dining room. Its floors were checkered black and white, with oak wood cupboards and a large counter in the middle of the kitchen. Under the counter was the dishwasher, a very odd place to have one, indeed. Off to the side rested the ponderosa pine table where they now sat, eating. The kitchen was perhaps the largest room in the house, next to the living room.

"So what do you think we could get, besides food?" Matt asked.

"Well," Kevin answered, thinking for a moment. "My mother always had a Walther. Uncle Walther as she called it..."

"Great!" Peter exclaimed. "Now we finally got some freakin' firepower!"

Matt chuckled. "You seem to forget, my friend, that guns have a little something called ammunition, and if you run out of it, you're screwed."

Peter shot a dark glare to Matt. "I know, jackass."

"Do you have anything else we could use?" Ji Hae asked.

Kevin locked his hands behind his head and began to think. He couldn't really think of anything else that they could use. Food, a gun, a little bit of ammunition for it...nothing much else.

"Nothing really," he replied, reaching a conclusion.

Leaving his friends downstairs, telling them to get something to eat, Kevin walked up the stairs to his mother's room. Placing his hand on the doorknob, he hesitated, recalling memories. He had never known his father and from what he had heard from his mother, he wouldn't like to meet him either. He had lived with his mother all his life, without any siblings or close relatives in immediate contact. He had heard that he had a half-sister, but he had never met her.

Kevin shook his head. _'Shouldn't worry about Mom now,' _he thought. _'She's probably safe, off wherever she is. Let's just worry about you and your friends' hides.'_

He turned the knob and entered his mother's room. It was very plain, with only the barest of necessities. A bed, nightstand, dresser with mirror, closet, curtains, carpeting over hardwood floors. He went over to the dresser and opened the top drawer, searching for the brown lacquer box that housed the handgun. His mother had bought it a few years ago, explaining that _'you never know when you might need one'_. He gave his mother a silent thanks for purchasing the firearm. Now it finally looked like it was going to be put to good use.

Finding the box with the gun and four extra magazines, he placed them all into his pants pockets. As he walked out of his mother's room to rejoin his friends, he made a mental note to ask Peter to show him how to use a gun properly.

'_After all, I only know how to pull the trigger.'_

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_**Skokie, Illinois**_

_**Safian residence, Hull st.**_

_**2:57 PM, clearing skies**_

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Just like Kevin's house, Peter's was desolate. Though it was more lavishly decorated—due to Peter's father having a more high-paying position than Kevin's mother—it was just as quiet. Peter wasted no time in climbing the stairs with his friends to the attic, where his father kept his guns. True, most of them were antiques that could never be used, but he knew that among his father's guns there was a K-BAR Marine Edition combat knife, .38 Special and a Mossberg M500 police-style shotgun.

Upon entering the attic, he found that it had already been raided. Trunks and boxes that weren't normally open were, papers were scattered about and, most depressing of all, his father's gun collection had been messed with. He found the K-BAR—which he proceeded to connect to his belt—but a large combat knife wasn't exactly what he was looking for. He was about to curse, when he saw something on the ground. It was black and sleek with a medium-sized metal tube, sitting below the gun collection that was displayed on the wall. It was the Mossberg M500 police edition, with a note taped to the barrel with duct tape. Ripping off the tape, he read the note.

"_Peter,_

_If you're looking for this, chances are that all has gone to hell, and then some. Feel free to take this and anything else you want. There are some shells (both 00 buck and deer slugs) in the ammo drawer, but you won't find much (chew me out later for not buying any more shells after that last target practice). Keep your pager on you. I'll contact you when I can. Be strong, soldier._

_-Dad"_

Peter crumpled the note in his hand, and he went for the ammo drawer. In it, he found various spent casings of various calibers and gauges. Among them, he found two small boxes full of shotgun shells. Propping up the shotgun, he loaded the 00 buck into the gun, and placed the extra shells with their boxes in his pockets. By his count, he only had eighteen of them—twleve 00 buck and five deer slugs—but it was enough to make him happy.

Standing up, he pumped his shotgun and gave a wide grin.

"Let's go kick some undead ass," he said.

The others couldn't help but to shake their heads at their friend.

"Do you have any idea how utterly ridiculous you look right now?" Kevin berated him.

Peter propped the shotgun on his shoulder and struck a pose in response. His grin turned into a smile of a madman. Ji Hae giggled, and Kevin and Matt gave an exasperated sigh. He was obviously getting some kind of a kick out of this.

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_**Morton Grove, Illinois**_

_**Park residence, Lincolnshire condominiums, corner of Main St. and Lehigh Ave.**_

_**3:29 PM, sparse clouds**_

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The door in the lobby was open, so they were granted immediate access to the building. On the fourth floor, they found Ji Hae's door to be wide open as well. Cautiously, they stepped into the apartment, one after another. The living room to their right and the kitchen to their left were decorated and embellished quite nicely, but were far from looking rich. They stepped onto the blue carpeting and into the dining room, not sure what to expect.

'_Are they even here?'_ Ji Hae thought. _'I really—'_

Her thoughts were cut short at the sound of a gunshot. She felt herself hit the floor from Matt pushing her, and then felt him grab her and run into the kitchen. She hid behind a wall with the others.

"Who's there!" Came the forceful shout from the other side of the apartment. "You're obviously not one of those things!"

Ji Hae recognized the voice instantly. "Daddy!" She called out.

"Ji Hae?" The voice asked, softer this time. "Is that you?"

"_Neh!"_

Ji Hae ran from the kitchen into the bedroom hallway of the apartment, finding her father and mother standing there with looks of relief on their faces. She ran into her father's arms and they embraced each other for all they were worth.

"It's so good to see you're alright," her father, Dae Jung, said in their native language. "I feared the worst..."

"It's alright, Daddy," Ji Hae responded in the same tongue. "Matt, Peter and Kevin protected me."

"Really?" Her mother, Eun Bi said, embracing her daughter as well.

"Yes. They risked their lives by coming back to the school when they could have left to save themselves."

Releasing their daughter, Ji Hae's parents looked at the young men before them. "I apologize about trying to shoot you," Ji Hae's father said, indicating his USP .45 Tactical handgun. "But I couldn't really tell if you were one of them or not."

"Uh, no problem, I guess..." Matt replied.

There was a short silence as Dae Jung looked over the young men. "I must thank you," he said. "You have no idea how much our daughter means to us. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you."

"You should thank Matt for going after Ji Hae," Peter said. "He's the one that went off running her. If it weren't for him, we might have forgotten about her."

Ji Hae's mother nodded. "Thank you then, Matt."

Looking at her father, Ji Hae told him in Korean, _"See? I told you he was a good person."_

Her father only _'humped'_ in response. After more pleasantries and greetings, the group situated themselves on the furniture, with the exception of Mr. Park, who was pacing up and down the room.

"I have little ammunition, just enough for my wife and myself," he began. "You have guns as well, it seems, so that must account for something. I say that since it's the safest, and most likely ammunition-stocked location in the town, we head for the Skokie Police Department Station. They should have more supplies and perhaps even some help."

Finishing his pacing around the room, he turned to the young men. "Are you in?"

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_**Skokie, Illinois**_

_**Skokie Police Department Headquarters, Main/Keeler Avenues**_

_**3:35 PM, darkening**_

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Everything that they could see in the lobby was ransacked. Dead, mutilated bodies of officers and civilians alike were strewn about the floor, along with dirt, grime and spent ammunition and shell casings. Potted plants were uprooted and strewn about the floor, and behind the reception desk, into the back rooms, things didn't look too peachy. Kevin, normally a thinker, didn't want to imagine what the second floor above him looked like.

Dae Jung and his wife, Eun Bi, walked toward the desk, handguns drawn. Working like a SWAT team, they used head signals and gestures to signal when it was okay to proceed, and never relaxed their guard. As the others watched this spectacle, Kevin voiced his thoughts to Matt.

"Hey," he told his friend in a hushed voice. "Do you suppose there's something else going on here?"

Matt frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Just look at that! And why did they take Ji Hae with us?"

"Well, if you think about it, taking her along would make sure that she'd be safe. After all, with our numbers it would be safer for her to come along. As for this, who knows? Who cares?"

This time, it was Kevin's turn to frown. "I care."

As they proceeded behind the reception desk, the young men withdrew their weapons. At the sound of a throaty moan from behind a computer desk near Matt, he spun to face the rising zombie and wasted no time in swinging his blade in an arc, lopping off its head with a clean slice. The stump where the head had once been spurted blood then collapsed to the floor with the rest of the body. Matt gave a small grin of triumph. The blade was sharper than he had once thought.

'_Guess they call it the "blade that cuts through torsos" for a reason,'_ he thought.

He gave a head nod to the others to signal it was okay, then continued on. Finding the door behind the reception desk empty, they turned around and regrouped in the lobby.

Dae Jung read a map on the wall, said something to his wife to which she nodded, and then said, "Looks like the weapons storage is just down the hallway past this door," he motioned to the door that led deeper into the station. "That's our next destination."

Giving a nod in understanding, the teens followed behind him. Dae Jung opened the door and stepped into the hallway. He wished that he hadn't.

Before him were a group of those undead creatures, far too many for him to shoot alone. It was then that he saw the young man, Peter, step ahead of him and fire off a shell from his shotgun. The buckshot that spread like a cone from the nozzle of his barrel forced back the group and took down two or three, giving Kevin and Eun Bi the time they needed to finish off the others.

Peter slung the shotgun over his shoulder and gave a wide grin. "Easy as pie, eh, Mr. Park?"

Dae Jung just gave a "humph" as a response.

'_What's up with him?'_ Peter thought. _'Jeez, sor—ry.'_

They continued down the hall, spotting a gray metal door at the end of the hall that could be none other than the weapon storage.

_Pop! Pop! Pop!_

At once, they spun and faced the noise. Behind the door to their left came the sound of gunshots. Even though they were muffled, Eun Bi could plainly tell what kind of caliber they were.

"Nine millimeter," she said to no one in particular. "And it sounds like they were desperate shots—fired off in rapid succession."

Dae Jung nodded grimly. "Indeed."

Now, Matt couldn't help but to be interested. How the hell could they distinguish one round from another just by its sound? And how could they tell that the shots were probably wild shots? He made a reminder to himself to ask Ji Hae about it later. Proceeding with the others, he entered the room last, after Ji Hae, and took in the sights of the room. It was an office, with rows of disorganized desks, overturned tables, trashcans, and bloodied walls and furniture—obviously from the zombie attack—and not a single person in sight. Not even one of the undead.

Then, from the enclosed office at the far end of the room, a body fell from the office into the room, and hit the floor with a thud. Someone was obviously in there, and they were alive. Dae Jung took up the lead again and cautiously proceeded forward, motioning the others to come too, just as quietly. He stopped just before the office door, which had had its glass window shattered and was almost broken off its hinges.

Taking a deep breath, he spun into the office, his USP ready, his finger ready to pull the trigger.

----------------------------------------------

_Beta-readers: F. Buckley, K. O'Laughlin _

_Editors: MayumiH, F. Buckley_

Draft: 1/3/03 (1:38 AM)

Final: Unknown

Final ver. 2: 9/16/05 (4:27 PM)

Comments: Okay, first, let me say something about the katana that Matt got. Yeah, you might want to call it eye-rollingly fanboyish or something, but if there's one weapon that I thought was always missing from a Resident Evil game, it was a sword of some sort. I had just so happened to be doing some research on katana, when I found out about the _dotanuki _and thought, "Hey! I should use that!", and, uh, so I did. Sorry, but I think that the one you can get in the original Silent Hill just does not do them justice.

While a katana may not be as powerful or heavy as a European longsword (most of a longsword's cutting power came from its weight, in fact), it is more than capable of slicing someone open as long as they're not wearing body armor of some sort. When you're against zombies with weakened, rotting flesh, it's almost the perfect close quarters combat weapon you can have. In my humble opinion, at least. Before MayumiH disappeared (an event that saddened me greatly), I remember her saying something to that same effect. She even said that she loved how I put the sword in. So I decided to keep it for the second incarnation of this story.

As to the chapter itself, in the original incarnation, even I was shocked by the amount of action that I had managed to squeeze into the beginning of the chapter. Not a lot of death, I know, but it should hopefully whet some people's appetites for what's to come. There's a scene or two in there that wasn't in the original version (like the second zombie attack on Peter), so I somehow put even _more_ action into it. Anyway, I had fun doing it. It was the parts where I had to write about the teens going around town that really bogged me down and drained me—at least from what I can remember.

Author responses:

**AnimaSola:** Heh. I was actually plotting Craig's death before I had the ending plotted out in my head. I came up with about three different ways to have him die, but I liked the one with meeting the first zombie the best. Yeah, I took a few cues from Silent Hill when I was writing the description of the town. Funny thing is though, there are days in Skokie that are like that—just with cars passing by and a few people walking the streets. It's creepy as hell. Yeah, the Mr. Koch (pronounced: Koh-k—think, "cook")/Mrs. Singer thing was a flash of inspiration of an overworked brain. I figuratively pulled it right out of my ass and had it typed up in about five minutes. XD

Finally, yes, Skokie is a real place. It is a northern suburb of Chicago, where both many Russians and many Jews settled after WWII. From what I remember about it, it's a nice little town. Boring, though. At least the schools are really good and the tax base is nice. It's home to one of—or I think that it's THE—biggest mall in Illinois, Old Orchard. As you can imagine, the township is really banking on the area near their border with Wilmete, where most of their commerce is centered (ironically enough, Niles North is right across the street from Old Orchard). I haven't been there in two years though, so some things may have changed since then.

**Peter:** Cottage Grove, Oregon? Never heard of it. Dunno if I can write about it if I've never seen the place. There most likely will be sex (guess between who)in this story, but it won't be between any RE characters that we know of. As I have stated before, this is an original Resident Evil fanfiction. The characters that we know in the games _do not exist in this story. _Or, if they do, they're far away. And there's already a Peter in the story: Peter Safian, one of Matt's friends. He's not a brotha last time I checked (and by that, I assume that you mean black?). Doesn't have a girlfriend (at least, one that's mentioned in this story). So, there you go. He does play a major part in the story later on, though.

**Tinkies: **Why thank you. I do think that this is perhaps some of the best writing that I've done—after like the third draft, anyway. This is probably the best explanation that I'm going to give of the town; now it's on to the individual locations and the action scenes which I oh so love to write. So yes, that means that there will be as much action in this as I can think of.

**SilverSpoons:** Wow. You're about the first person to tell me that you didn't mind Craig dying. Most everyone else that I've shown it to (MayumiH and my mother included), were all like "Why did you kill him off?" I could only shrug and say, "Because I felt like it?" True, it did kind of feel like I had him created for a plot device to introduce the zombie horde (well, him and Officer Provus, anyway), but I don't feel bad about it. And yes, thank you for the compliments on descriptions and stuff...but I'm not _that _good a writer. At best, I think of myself as average as far as things go on the fanfiction scale. You're free to agree or disagree with that one.

And an apology to all: I messed up on the map URL. Here it is. Just remove all the spaces, put in the second forwardslash and the colon and you should get to the album. Look for Map2: that's the Now or Never map.

**h t t p /photobucket . com / albums / v 234 / Rasputin Man ?**  


(Author comments completed: 9/15/05, 11:51 AM)


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